


And We Meet to Part Once More

by Merfilly



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Outbound Flight - Timothy Zahn
Genre: Goodbyes, M/M, Yuletide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-19
Updated: 2013-12-19
Packaged: 2018-01-05 04:26:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1089604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jorj Car'das is a man with the weight of death upon his shoulders. There is one that he must see before he leaves to fight that fate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	And We Meet to Part Once More

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bofoddity](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bofoddity/gifts).



The stateroom aboard the _Admonitor_ was a simple room. Holographic projectors were available, visible if the eye knew where to look.

Jorj Car'das was one of those whose eyes had been thoroughly trained to know they were there. He was, in all honesty, surprised that none of them were displaying anything at this time.

"No prey to study, Thrawn?" he questioned softly as he crossed the room to where the other man waited at a table set for two.

"Preparing for a new hunt would be the phrasing you are searching for, Jorj." The Senior Captain indicated the other chair. "I am pleased you were able to rejoin me one more time before I leave for the _Vengeance_. Did you find Wroona an interesting task for your needs?" 

Car'das nodded tightly even as he settled in the offered chair. He felt tired, and hope was not something he chose to indulge, but yet again Thrawn had set him a task that dovetailed neatly with his own wishes. "Sorro's family is free and on their way to a new life."

"And you? Where does your life lead you now, Jorj Car'das?" Thrawn asked without any indication of what he was looking for from Car'das.

But then, wasn't that always how it was with Mitth'raw'nuruodo?

"How long have we known each other now?" Car'das asked instead. "No, let me rephrase that. I have known you for more than half of my life, and I am currently dying, unless I find some lost Jedi or one of the Force cults that would be willing to help me overcome what was done when the Bpfasshi Dark Jedi had me as his prisoner." His mouth twitched into a sardonic, almost bitter grimace. "And despite all of that, I still feel as if I have not scratched the surface of who you are, Thrawn."

That honest, frank admission drew faint amusement from Thrawn, obvious only in the faint curve of his lips. "I am what I choose to make of myself, Jorj. Just as you have made of yourself something beyond that original smuggler for hire you were at our first meeting." He inclined his head slightly. "When you taught me, and gave me the tools I needed to access the Imperial Forces."

Car'das did not show his surprise beyond a raised eyebrow. Was that why Thrawn had woven such threads between them over the long years? Was it to acknowledge a debt created in that wild, desperate first encounter? 

"It has been an eventful crafting, then," was his careful reply to that. 

"Why don't we leave the mutual interrogation until after the meal?" Thrawn invited cordially.

Car'das nodded, even as he identified the cuisine as native to Alpheridies. His mind played over the mention of the _Vengeance_ , and he realized that Thrawn did already have prey at the forefront of his mind. 

"The Inquisitor, Jerec?" he questioned after sampling each dish.

"As ever, Jorj, you peer directly into the matter at hand." Thrawn indicated the meal. "Possessing no sight sensory capability, their arts run more subtly than many races I have studied."

"I take it the Emperor is edgy then." Car'das mulled that over, sifting it into place against what he had learned so far of the Dark Jedi, Force sensitives, and their ilk. While no one in their right mind actually whispered the name 'Darth Sidious', it had not escaped knowledge. Car'das had been steadily building a private collection of names associated with potential Force-users to avoid ever being as helpless as he'd been with the Bpfasshi Dark Jedi.

"Or, perhaps, he has grown tired of his most visible asset with Force capabilities. After all, the Emperor's Hand that was involved in the matter of the Candoras sector was seen with a lightsaber." Thrawn took a sip of the wine on the end of those words, appreciating the manner in which it subtly complemented the flavors of the food. Car'das noted the subtle marks of Thrawn allowing himself pleasure in his study of his next target, even as his brain ticked over the facts laid out.

Why did Thrawn always manage to find just the data for Car'das's mind to chew over?

"And then there is the appearance of Luke Skywalker to disturb the way of the galaxy," he murmured, trying to see where it all fell into place. Skywalker was a name well-known to anyone who had survived the Clone Wars. If the boy truly was born to that line, what would it mean for the Empire?

"An interesting point in history, I believe." Thrawn returned his attention to the next course of the meal, and let Car'das think longer on just what Thrawn might be driving at.

It was only once they had finished the afters that went with the meal served that the pair of men chose to speak again, comfortably settled in the sitting area. The table and meal had been cleared, leaving them in privacy once more. Nor did Car'das doubt that privacy; Thrawn had little need of spies in his own quarters.

"I don't know what I want to do," Car'das said slowly, toying with the edge of a stim patch he'd adhered to his wrist as the meal was cleaned away. "There's that option to chase out by the Kathol Rift. And then there's always just admitting I'm not going to win this fight."

Thrawn settled back into his own chair, watching Car'das but not speaking. When Car'das brought his face up to look at the Senior Captain, it was to find the red eyes appraising him intently. It was a solid reminder of their earliest days spiced with knowing how intuitive and gifted Thrawn was at reading people.

"I don't do 'give up'," Car'das stated, to break that silence, to say what Thrawn already knew. "But I also feel that whatever I find, be it death or a cure, I'm tired. Too damn tired to keep up with the way life is changing. Let me leave that to the ones that follow and that means…" He stopped himself, not wanting to say it, not wanting this moment, even as he knew it had to happen. It was the only reason he'd come back to this ship with his mission accomplished.

"Cutting the strings tying you to your past, and the ones that weave into the history being made," Thrawn finished for him.

Their eyes met solidly this time, and Car'das nodded once, mouth drawn tight. "I can't be here for you, Thrawn. I get drawn in, and then I'm just back in the middle, one more piece of your elaborate strategy across a galactic minefield."

There was a very long pause, before Thrawn stood, walking over with even, steady strides to where Car'das reclined on the visitor's chaise. One blue hand extended down, reaching for the human's.

"Before we sever them, and you go your own way, Jorj, one last indulgence?" Thrawn suggested, in that mild, calm manner of his.

Car'das knew then that Thrawn would respect his choice, and he gave his hand to the Chiss warrior that had saved and endangered his life more times than he cared to count. The stronger of the pair steadied the other, before they went to say goodbye as privately as they had conducted the rest of their association.

* * *

The bed had long since being tidied, along with the personal cabin. Thrawn had left it soon after Jorj had made his way to his own ship. By now, the human was light years away on his own quest. Thrawn stood on the _Admonitor's_ flight deck, letting his mind brush over personal matters once more.

Perhaps they truly would remain parted this time.

Somehow, Thrawn doubted the galaxies were finished with a man like Jorj Car'das. If not, then the new history being forged would draw them back once again into orbit of each other.

Either way, the Imperial, human-dominated sectors felt colder than they had in a long, long time.

**Author's Note:**

> This is set just after the ending of _Choices of One_ by Zahn. It picks up the tale of Thrawn and Car'das just before _The Empire Strikes Back_. I then had to use the Wookiepedia entries on Thrawn and Car'das both, as there was some extensive fleshing out of both characters in books I do not own.
> 
> Dear reader, I hope that this choice has not offended you. While _Outbound Flight_ was the nominated fandom, I hope you don't mind me exploring more of their future in this fashion.
> 
> And yes, I left the ending just where I did, because I do not think we've seen the last of these 'interquels' Zahn is treating us to.


End file.
